A new video from Tibet shows the reactions of monks and lay-people alike to the most recent self-immolation in Rebkong, Amdo. Have a look at it. And buckle your seat-belts.
Two things stand out to me when I watch this video. First, the Tibetan people have suffered and are still suffering the consequences of China's brutal opposition, which has been continual since 1949. Second, the Tibetans have used every means at their disposal to respond to this suffering in a constructive, nonviolent way. China, by all odds, should have long ago silenced the Tibetan people, but they have failed to do so and seem, on a daily basis now, increasingly unable to do so. Whatever it is that I see in this brief film, however I want to describe this Tibetan spirit, I feel clearly that the Tibetans have revealed here a profound and unshakeable commitment to achieving a free state.
They seem during this brief video a more stable, more commited, more powerful citizenry than anything China has so far mustered.
My hope is that China is beginning to register the same perception at some level, however secretly, however bureaucratically.
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